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Electromagnetic warfare or electronic warfare (EW) is warfare involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy operations. The purpose of electromagnetic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of—and ensure friendly unimpeded access to—the EM spectrum. Electromagnetic warfare can be applied from air, sea, land, or space by crewed and uncrewed systems, and can target communication, radar, or other military and civilian assets.
A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices.
The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) is a joint programme developed by France, Italy, and the United Kingdom for an integrated anti-aircraft warfare system. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam (66%) and UKAMS (33%). In the United Kingdom, PAAMS has been given the designation Sea Viper.
The Thales Watchkeeper WK450 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) used by the British Army. It was developed by UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), a joint venture of Elbit Systems UK and Thales UK, and is based on Elbit's Hermes 450.
A laser weapon is a type of directed-energy weapon that uses lasers to inflict damage. Whether they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons remains to be seen. One of the major issues with laser weapons is atmospheric thermal blooming, which is still largely unsolved. This issue is exacerbated when there is fog, smoke, dust, rain, snow, smog, foam, or purposely dispersed obscurant chemicals present. In essence, a laser generates a beam of light that requires clear air or a vacuum to operate.
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper is an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate ground control by humans.
The Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) is a joint concept technology demonstration led by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base to develop an air-launched directed-energy weapon capable of incapacitating or damaging electronic systems by means of an EMP.
Martlet or the Lightweight Multirole Missile(LMM) is a lightweight air-to-surface, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the Martlet.
The AeroVironment Switchblade is a miniature loitering munition designed by AeroVironment and used by several branches of the United States military. Small enough to fit in a backpack, the Switchblade launches from a tube, flies to the target area, and crashes into its target while detonating its explosive warhead. The name Switchblade comes from how the spring-loaded wings are folded inside a tube and flipped out once released.
Drone warfare is a form of warfare using robots. Robot types include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles, and ground based drones. The United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Italy, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Poland are known to have manufactured operational UCAVs as of 2019.
The AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System or XN-1 LaWS is a laser weapon developed by the United States Navy. The weapon was installed on USS Ponce for field testing in 2014. In December 2014, the United States Navy reported that the LaWS system worked perfectly against low-end asymmetric threats, and that the commander of Ponce was authorized to use the system as a defensive weapon. Due to various operational problems, LaWS was never put into mass production; it was replaced by the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance.
Iron Beam, officially מגן אור, Shield of Light is a directed-energy weapon air defense system unveiled at the Singapore Airshow on February 11, 2014 by Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
The Orlan-10 is a reconnaissance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Special Technology Center (STC) in Saint Petersburg for the Russian Armed Forces. The Orlan-10 features a composite fuselage that reduces its radar signature.
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in warhead that is typically designed to loiter around a target area until a target is located, then attack the target by crashing into it. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or aborted.
The Raytheon Coyote is a small, expendable, unmanned aircraft system built by the Raytheon Company, with the capability of operating in autonomous swarms. It is launched from a sonobuoy canister with the wings deploying in early flight phase.
Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence.
DragonFire is a British laser directed-energy weapon (LDEW). It was first unveiled to the public as a technology demonstrator in 2017 at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) conference in London and is being developed by UK DragonFire, a collaboration consisting of MBDA UK, Leonardo UK, QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl). A production version is expected to enter service in 2027 onboard Royal Navy ships.
The HESA Shahed 136, also known by its Russian designation Geran-2, is an Iranian-designed loitering munition, also referred to as a kamikaze drone or suicide drone, in the form of an autonomous pusher-propelled drone. It is designed and manufactured by the Iranian state-owned corporation HESA in association with Shahed Aviation Industries.
The Leonidas is a high-power microwave (HPM) weapon developed to disable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms. It was named after Leonidas of Epirus.
The Tactical High-power Operational Responder (THOR) is a high-power microwave directed energy weapon developed by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
References
- ↑ Comms, D. E. S. (23 December 2024). "British Army tests radiofrequency weapon on drones for the first time". Defence Equipment & Support. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- 1 2 3 "British soldiers successfully test drone killer radiowave weapon for first time". GOV.UK. 23 December 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- 1 2 "UK's EW UAS-jammer set for field testing". Shepherd News. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ↑ UK reveals development of low cost Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon. Breaking Defense. 16 May 2024.
- ↑ "Cutting-edge drone killer radio wave weapon developing at pace". GOV.UK. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ↑ Karpus, Vadym (16 May 2024). "The RFDEW is an energy weapon with a shot price of 13 cents and unlimited ammunition. It is designed to destroy drones and aircraft electronics". ITC. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ↑ "Royal Navy: MoD developing advanced drone killer radio wave weapon after Red Sea attacks". The News . 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ↑ Candlin, Alex (16 May 2024). "New 10p-a-shot anti-drone weapon being developed for UK's Armed Forces". Forces News .